it is monday, march 3rd. and this is "now." massive storm. washington, d.c., seems to be getting the worst of it right now. >> one more big test for the obama administration. this is the biggest strategic crisis the united states has faced since 46911. >> europe's borders are being redrawn by force. >> who do you want to restore the russian empoo ir? >> russian forces have invaded and now have complete control of the country's crimea region. >> ukraine is the crown jewel. >> this is most seriously the biggest deficit of our lives since the cold war ended. >> pressure is on the mid-west to do something. >> this will get worse before it gets better. >> you got to believe it's over. >> we have to be in this for the long haul. >> it's now unclear just what the west can do about it. >> john kerry arrived in ukraine tomorrow. >> putin is not going to back off this without some real

effort to make a verdict. >> a full blown cold war like showdown. >> we dropped 20 degrees since midnight. >> the cold war chess game in the ukraine continues today. by a look at it, we are a long way from check mate. they have seized the crimea union with 6,000 ground and naval forces in the region. the tensions worsened when ukraine's acting president accused russia of executing the military standoff and blocking ukrainian navy vessels. ukraine's new government claims russia issued an ultimatum for forces to surrender within an hour or face an armed assault. russia denies these assaults. the state department said today if they are true, it represents a dangerous turn of events. as russia flexes its muscle, unease is growing all over the world. the value of russia's currency, the ruble, has fallen to an all

of time low against the dollar and euro. prime ministers in europe held an emergency meeting this afternoon to discuss policy options to reign in russia. the u.s. said it is currently preparing russian sanctions to likely be put in place if the kremlin continues on this course. hours ago in a meeting with the israeli president benjamin netanyahu, president obama had strong words from moscow and urged congress to work with his administration on the issue of ukraine. >> i think the strong condemnation that it's received from countries around the world indicates the degree to which russia is on the wrong side of history on this. i heard a lot of talk from congress about what should be done, what they want to do. one thing they can do right away is to work with the administration. we should be able to come up with a unified position that stands outside of partisan politics.

>> whether sanctions or economic pressure or anything will be enough to change mr. putin's calculus remains to be seen. as president obama noted, the situation has not stopped lawmakers from ratcheting up the criticism and pointing fingers. >> the fact is, that this is a blatant act on the part of vlad might ha vladmir putin and one that must be acceptable to the world communities. it cannot stand. this is the result of an effectless foreign policy that america believes america's strength anymore. >> we have a weak president that invites aggression. >> i think putin is playing chess. i think we are playing marbles. >> joining me now is nbc news political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd and former assistant secretary of state for public affairs p.j. crowley. the president is stressing we should put politics aside and urging them to work with his administration. you have that coming, bumped up

against john mccain, who has not been shy in his criticism. in all fairness the washington post was scathing in the criticism of this sworn policy. what is it likely when washington returns to washington tomorrow, they put in place of work with the administration on a sanctions package? >> i think they will work with the administration. this is not the problem the white house has when dealing with europe t. problem is the eu. the problem is getting europe united in a way to do something that would have some teeth and on the economic sanction front against russia in order to make putin change its ways. everything that the white house is talking about has to do with political or economic punishments. there is no, let's take a side, no military exercise or anything like that on the table. the problem, for instance the white house will run into is stlern. we seen lobbyists on k street say, hey, we don't want to see the united states make

unilateral moves against russia if europe isn't going to move in. he actually, if he wants congress to be on the side to do these sanctions against russia, in order to get it through, he actually is, the president will have to somehow get the europeans united around doing something fairly tough against putin and that's going to be the harder slog here. so i i think this is the frustration. who knew that the easier foreign policy channels the president is facing today is the middle east peace process. >> exactly. >> because, look, the white house wants to punch putin in some form. they know they got to do this. but there is no easy answer and there is no unilateral u.s. action that could get putin to pay attention if the europeans aren't doing it with them. >> well, p.j., they point out the europeans will be key allies if we allie together on this, on an economic punishment. there is a reality that 30% of

natural gas and i believe 30% of crude oil consumed by the eu annually is imported from russia. so certainly there are competing interests here. some folks have said. i'd love to get your thoughts on this. >> that the president should ignore the sort of us versus them, russia versus u.s. dynamic and focus more on the stability in the ukraine. because it could become as david remnick talks about in a new yorker piece earlier that an open war, the situation could get much worse and that this is a country that is trying to have presidential elections in just a few months. your thoughts on where our emphasis and focus should be. >> well, i think we have to look at history. the president's favorite expression is to be on the right side of history. you know, there is a triangular history here. obviously, russia, 60 years, gave crimea. you know, to ukraine as a gift. it has an interest in the peninsula and, obviously, is

occupying the peninsula. ukraine is trying to -- and russia seized ukraine as the last buffer between itself and its rivals in the west. ukraine has potentially to make a choice. you know, what precipitated this crisis was, you know, yanukovych's choice to move east and his population, a significant subset of this population looking to improve relations with the west. ukraine either has to decide, to move in one direction or the other or try to manage in the middle this delicate relationship. it may not see a relationship in the west or east. in zero, some terms, putin does, now, putin for the moment probably halls restored the leverage he was sought all over a revolution spiraling out of control. the challenge for the president is can he raise the costs for putin for this gamg bit.

that's a very good question. >> we talk about a lot of what kind of leverage we have left. churks i want to read an excerpt from the washington post a second ago. they write, president obama has led a foreign policy based more on how he thinks the world should operate than on reality. invasion, root force, great power games, shifting alliances. these were things in the past. that's nice thought. unfortunately, russian president vladmir putin has not received the memo on 21st century behavior. how much do you think what is happening in the ukraine is a reflection more broadry of the president's foreign policy? >> the white house says there is too many of us in the media, too many of congress slipping into old cold war habits. they were educated with the cold war background, so it's easy to view all things through the cold war. they're saying, hey, we're trying hard not to do this. when you watch what putin is

doing, he clearly hasn't gotten the memo. >> that seems to be a little of the split. i have detected a little split on this, by the way, inside the administration largely about, you know, maybe they're going to be stuck dealing unilaterally with russia. having this sort of, they'll never call eight cold war, a return to the cold war mindset of sometimes unilateral negotiations with the russians, but essentially, when you are dealing with putin, it's now the necessary evil that there is no other way around it. you know, you do have to wonder in there, some are wondering, gone harmon on my show seemed to hint, hey, had the president gone ahead in syria. >> he would have had more leverage? >> and acting this way. you know, that's an opinion of someone like hers. a leading line on foreign policy on the democratic side of the aisle. so this isn't just republicans saying this. there are democrats in back seat driving the president who believe this, too. >> p.j. in as much as there is a story about president obama, it is also the story about russia and the choices that russia faces.

you talked about the ukraine and, you know, being at a cross roads between going further east with russia and following the west. i think in the op ed, you wrote, the opportunity for putin is almost precisely the opposite his vision of restoration. it is only moving west towards europe that russia can reverse its democratic trap. year by year, the russian political system becomes more of a corrupt despottism. the alternative is for ukraine to pull russia with it towards the west. one wonders whether ukraine can follow russia anywhere. but that idea that russia is sort of resistant to the times, as it were, and is not acting in its best interest and putin is making so forth of a fatal decision in doing what he is doing right now. >> alex, a friend of mine says that the americans have a curious relationship with history.

i think we tend to discount the forces of history here that are at play. i mean, putin is trying to manage the restoration of some semblance of russian empire. you know, and he believes very strongly, you know, that he should have, russia should have some prerogative over developments in its own neighborhood. look back to georgia in 2008. you know, now, the benefit there was that, you know, georgia fired first and russia retaliated in ways that really were very costly, you know, to georgia. the great thing about the current situation in ukraine is, is russia has been bathing ukraine to do something provocative. so far, there has been restraint here. i think this is where the situation will be resolved. if putin i think is playing a sophisticated game, if he overplays his hand, he actually has the net effect of unifying, you know, ukrainian public opinion absent crimea, which is a separate situation entirely

against russia and probably pushes ukraine more significantly towards the west. but i think if he plays a delicate hand, plays it well, he is able to restore some control over what happens in ukraine and perhaps over time either by a combination of subtrifuge by russia in effectiveness by ukraine. he will strangle the momentum behind this revolution just as we saw with the orange revolution of 2004. >> p.j., one last one before you go, angela merkel has expressed. she asked questions about whether putin is still in touch with reality following a conversation she had with him. this is, no doubt, a consolidation of power, a power grab, if you will. what do you make about the sort of questioning a as a state of mind of his mental fitness of the children jans lor? >> from putin's standpoint, he got away with the incursion into georgia in 2008.

think about that. the outrage around the world. yet, you know, within five years, six years, putin is hosting the world at the olympic games in sochi. so from putin's standpoint, it's not a precise replay of georgia. he is everybodying what he perceives to be russia's interest. so far from his standpoint at a managable cost. it is now up to the united states and the european union to raise those costs to a point where putin chooses several which are available to him. >> it's the punishment for power grabbing over state lines is the winter olympics. i'm not sure that's exactly a deterrent. p.j. crowley, chuck todd, thank you both, gentleman. >> thanks. >> you can catch him at 506789 a.m. on the "daily rundown." calling the presidents a subhuman mongrel and the official barf bag. i did notally the i had to

that on television. texas republicans have a serious problems with democrats and dra demographics t. lone star state's vicky soso explains and who needs republicans when you have yet another massive winter snowstorm to shut down the federal government? we will get a live report coming up next. on that .le

[ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they're gonna fall in love,

get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some financial folks who will talk to them about preparing early for retirement and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade.

the same storm that brought the most rainfall to southern california in three years is now walloping the southeastern portion of the country today. five states, virginia, new jersey, tennessee, delaware and

mississippi have declared states of emergency because of dangerous conditions. more than 4,500 flights within, into or out of the united states stranded tens of thousands of travelers. in tennessee, 3,500 residents were without power along with 26,000 in arkansas and another 25,000 in texas. the federal government shuttered its doors today as six-to-ten inches of snow are expected to blanket the nation's capitol. richard, you are in the mid-atlantic. a huge part of this story of the season which seems to be states south of you, where winter is usually much more, much less fierce and much more seasonal. seasonable, if one can even say that. >> reporter: right. you know, we look at the numbers, you look at the parts of the country here, alex, the number that really stand out to me, 139 million. that's just this storm. this system. and the number of people that

have been affected across the country. we talk about the northeast and the mid-atlantic. you know, they're used to snow, right? they're seeing a season that has been greater than any before. new york city, they're looking at more snow than anchorage, alaska. we are looking at virginia, which had $62 million the department of transportation budgeted for this season. they have already spent $122 million. then, of course you have washington, d.c. they're alludeing to. they're looking at the snow in the last season, you got south as you were alludeing tennessee. do we invest for in equipment in supplies and in staff for seasons that they thought would never happen that may be a little more common than the west? although they got that rain there, alex, one of the driest seasons in california. the economics there, when you look at the private and the public budget.

it's so tough for all the states just about all the areas across the country. >> that is a really shocking fact. new york city has had more snow than anchorage, alaska. i think maybe next season, richard, you and i are taking sled dogs to work, just saying as this climate change keeps up. >> i'm with you on that. >> stay warm. coming up, oscar kind of got it from alphonso qorane to the ghost of matthew mcconaughey's future. last night's academy award were the most diverse ever. comedian, entertainer, all around great guy, talking tinsel town ahead. first today, downtown new york city faces a first and possibly an only, a 9-11 trial begins just blocks from ground zero. >> that is next. before handcrafted jewelry was creating positive energy

and a life of purpose and meaning was infused into a corporate culture. there was a commitment to creating new jobs out of recycled metals, right here in america. and a bank that helped carolyn rafaelian's business grow from a rhode island storefront into a global sensation. that's the beauty of connecting a vision to an enterprise. that's bank of america. [ female announcer ] one drop of ultra dawn has twice the everyday grease-cleaning ingredients of one drop of the leading non-concentrated brand... to clean two times more greasy dishes. dawn does more, so it's not a chore.

to clean two times more greasy dishes. ♪ see what's new ates more projectluna.com. ♪ ♪ ♪

>> today in new york city, a few blocks from the world trade center, the trial began for osama bin ladin's son-in-law. they defined two people for obama's consigliere following the -11 attacks. abu gates could face life in prison. this trial comes four years after president obama tried to bring alleged mastermind khalid

sheikh mohammed to trial in manhattan. even to this day he ran into unyielding congressional opposition. jury selection for the abu gates trial begins tomorrow. we will bring you the latest as it unfolds. after the break, it shows texas is undergoing a seismic shift. republicans are shifting to the extreme. vickcy soto and wayne slater join me. that's next. . it doesn't mean, "everything... as long as you buy it at the gas station." it doesn't mean, "everything... until you hit your cash back limit." it means earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every place, every occasion, all over creation. ossetia ossetia. ab kazia. abkhazia.

corydon. corydon corydon. [ as schwarzenegger ] show me the movies with the arnold schwarzenegger with the stunts and loud explosions and all the muscles. [ as cosby ] i want to see the comedy programming with the children. [ british accent] watch bravo! yeah, i want to see "the real housewives." rewind! yeah! jimmy? it's been hours. we told you the x1 entertainment operating system show me "the tonight show starring jimmy fallon." that's what i'm talking about right there. [ cheers and applause ] [ female announcer ] control your tv with your voice.

the x1 entertainment operating system. only from xfinity.

>> wherever and whenever i can take steps without legislation, that's what i'm going to do. >> mr. president, you are not a kane and texans bow to no one. >> fighting words and a rifle in the face of the obama agenda. that was a bit of a televised vitriol by todd staple from texas. one testing violent rhetoric headed no tomorrow's heated primary contest. to be clear, the contest is who hates the brought the most. in the first primary in 12 years without governor rick perry on the ticket, the guy poised to take his place, attorney general greg abbott saw fit to take

place with the rocker, ted nugent recently called president obama a subhuman mongrel. he is the same man who said he would be dead or in jail if he won a second term. she campaigning for greg abbott t. high road has effectively become calling the president nearly dishonest as did texas senator john cornyn. >> people look at what's happening in washington today. they see bad decisions being made. no one is held accountable. >> the conflicts of the american people are shaken to its very core. >> but for his tea party challenger, corn nine might as well sent the president a pa ja ma-gram. stockman created an entire website, corn nine loves obamacare.com. so true the secret and forbidden passion for covering the uninsured. as evidences, corn

ninelovesobamacare.com. he failed, by stabbing him in the back by failing to the cruz-led catastrophe last fall's government shutdown. ted cruz who faces a test in texas tomorrow refused to endorse his republican senate colleague and said his vote is between him and the ballot box. as all of ted cruz's votes stay there. joining me is the professor of public policy at the university of texas. victoria desoto and political writer at the dallas morning news wayne slater. thank you all for joining me, especially on the same camera. it's great to see you, wayne, let me start with you, corn nine loves obamacare. createtivety knows no bounds. are we, what is going to happen tomorrow in texas? are we going to be forced to hear more from steve stockman in the coming weeks? >> this could be the political end of steve stockman. it's not the end of the tea party resurgence.

in texas, the old saying goes, if you want to run for office, you got to know how to lead a prayer and shoot a gun and the additional thing is you got to be a part of the second coming of ted cruz, stockman hoped that he was going to be a part of that post-ted cruz tea party wave. i don't think he's going to be successful. but there are other candidates running up and down the ballot to the right who are appealing to a very strong margin aliya in the republican party. >> i think marginaliya is strong. i have to remind the audience of some of the things ped amounted here. the official obama barf bag sold by representative steve bachmann's team for $one ask, who are the long-2er78 repercussions ooooo -- --

long-term repercussions? >> i am seeing a split. i think what is happening at the state level we are going further and further to the right. we are seeing some very right wing vetters. however, i am surprised by the moderation with some of tstockm race. he will come nowhere close in beating corn nine. pete sessions has a candidate to the right of him and she's not going to win. so i find it interesting that it's a more national level, bigger elections. we are seeing a little moderation or maybe let's say not as much tea party influence. here at home, for the state level races, i am behalfled at what i have seen in the last few weeks. i don't turn on the tv anymore. >> you say that you made note that there are a lot of tea party challengers, that they're not going away in the state of texas. the new york times had a stancive article talking about -- owe substancive article in talking about the huge

backing of vacancys or sending in ted cruz. do you think, vicki, we're in the going to be hearing that much from steve stockman and the national sort of texas republican party is much more aggressive? how much do you think the tea party really faces the direction of the republican platform in texas in the coming years? >> [ poor outsidia ] [ poor audio ]

. >> in this race. he has the challenger john cornyn calling illegal immigrants wetbacks. what we are seeing is a party that is having an identity crisis. probably more than that, the fear is tangible on this end, the defense of cultural displacement is so pronounced that i wonder, you know, from your perspective, when you have a texas population that is majority hispanic, what corner of the republican party is left in? >> yeah. what we are seeing right now, the republican party is seek income their yield. they are probably looking at these numbers and doing so because of that. the question is what is the republican party going to do going forward because of these dem gravgs? are they going to change? are they going to moderate? it wasn't too long ago george w. bush in his re-election for governor in the state of texas got 49 sponsors of the elected vote. if the republican party decide to moderate, they can harness

the vote. latinos here in texas a idea logically more conservative. let's get the republican party dismisses these number, doesn't want to moderate. they keep on the same track. in that case, the democratic party really has the advantage? that being said, they would have to mobilize. they really lag behind, not registering the turning out the vote. >> it will be a big issue in this year's mid-term. thank you beth for your time. >> thanks, alex. coming up, the supreme court hears new arguments on a case that could impact the future of capital pun ichish:and el jinlt on death row. we will look into constitutional and cruel and unusual just ahead.

anybody have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three types of good bacteria. i should probably take this. live the regular life. phillips'. federal governmentless

>> priz zas, selfies, it was not my daughter's overnight sleepover, it was the academy awards. >> hi, alex. we had quite a bit of volatility. fears of what is happening in the ukraine spooked the markets, not only the dow, but also oil and the upside, the gold market. so here's a look at how the stockmarket stands going into tomorrow's session. the dow jones industrial average lost 153 points. the s&p down 13 and three-quarters. points of the nasdaq was down almost 31. that's it from cnbc first in business worldwide. [ male announcer ] what if a small company became big business overnight? ♪ like, really big... then expanded? ♪ or their new product tanked?

♪ or not? what if they embrace new technology instead? ♪ imagine a company's future with the future of trading. company profile. a research tool on thinkorswim. from td ameritrade.

a restamps.cool on thinkorswim. it's amanda. hey sweetie. what? [phones rings] okay, i'll send it. one hundred seventy-two dollars for a chemistry book, what is it, made of gold? just use citi popmoney. boom. ah, she's feeling lucky. hey sweetie...cancun, yeah no, you'll be spending spring break with your new chemistry book. with citi popmoney it's easy to send money to just about anyone, anytime. visit your local branch or citi.com/easierbanking to learn more.

>> what was the reason that sparred the u.s. invasion? newly obtained documents and key players provide for the first time an answer to the question of why we did it.

>> last night it was selfies, snubs and social progress and other things beginning with s at the 86th annual academy awards. british artists steve mcqueen's "12 years a slave" the first of its kind to be directed by a black film maker. >> i dedicate this award to all the people who have endured slavery and the 21 million people who still suffer slavery today. >> the kenyon actress received the best award in her film in which she played a sexually abused slave named patsy. >> it doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks, to so much pain in someone else's. >> but it wasn't just "12 years a slave." much of the extend ahem broadcast took on issues of justice and injustice. kate blancheet accepting her award for best actress, reminding the world, quote the world is round, people.

>> and perhaps those of us in the industry who are still foolishly clinging to the idea that fwe mail films with women at the center unleash experience, they are not. audiences want to see them and, in fact, they earn money. >> and after earning the best supporting actor award for his portrayal of a transgender man struggling with aids in "dallas buyer's club" jared letto inspired those for home and abroad. >> to all the dreamers out there around the world watching this tonight in places like the ukraine and venezuela, i want to say we are here and as you struggle to make your dreams happen to live the impossible, we are thinking of you tonight and to those of you out there who have ever felt injustice because of who you are or who you love tonight i stand here in

front of the world with you and for you. >> joining me now is comedian kamel bell. thank you for being here. >> thank you, it's a pleasure to be herech you left out john travolta's pasht. >> part of seems to me celebrating. we had alphonso cuaron , a latin film-maker winning best director, lipita born in mexico. >> the tea party will hate this. >> on that note, we have rush limbaugh hours ago saying this. let us play the sound. >> there is no way that movie was not going to win. if it was the only thing that movie won, it was going to win best picture. there was no way. it didn't matter if it was good or bad. i haven't seen it. it was going to win. it had the magic word in the title "slave." >> the magic word is the title

slave. >> that is how i get into all the hot nightclubs. i use the word slave, ye, go this way, sir. >> that gets every party started. >> so there is the i there. we come so far, we talk about race, slavery, a black mark which is a muf michigan for what slavery was. then you have rush limbaugh and the legions of rush limbaugh followers who will agree with that. >> that's one of the sticky parts. it's a great movie. but it suddenly makes white people at cocktail parties have to talk about slavery. >> isn't that a good thing? on some level, is it, i go back and forth on this. it is once of course a black british film maker who made the movie about american slavery because americans are so uncomfortable dealing with our own history. >> although, it was written by an american. >> true. don ridley a friend of the show. we congratulate him on his win.

i guess when you look at sort of what happened last night, i feel it was a good oscars in terms of people of color, diversity of ideas but you look at the actual numbers of lead actors by race in 2011. 99.5% of lead actors were white. 10.5% minority. will testimony same for directors. it was someone who deals with show business and hollywood and entertainment, what do you think that does having an imbalance like that? >> it's nice white people are getting a b-plus inside. we got it down to a b-plus. >> can we get to a c? >> ♪ we have overcome. it's just the reality of the issue to deal w. as much as the bought him of the industry is changing with the diversity and how the internet freed up a lot of things. the industry seems to be like the oldest white men ever who control everything. >> what is your experience as a

youngish. >> youngish. >> a young black man in the entertainment industry? do you feel there are more doors opened for you now and more of an appetite and an economic model for you than there was 20 years ago? >> well, i did, i have spent most of my career on the edges of show business, trying to get through what the internet and meeting of people who oppose. i had a tv show on just over a year. >> that's a fantastic tv show. >> yes. thank you very much. is that right my big road down to the heart of the industry. no you the show is going gone, i still know i have to work all the angles. matthew mcconaughey is very active. he also has the good-looking white guy card. it gives you the right height. that's a lot. >> that's a segue to hash the spag mcconaughey. >> mcconaughey-nonsense. >> people were talking about his performance in "dallas buyers club" in the master piece, he starred in with woody harrelson

who called it the most amount of non-work i have ever done. i wonder if they smoked weed? >> maybe. >> surfer comma dude colon weed. in ohrt soft renaissances in hollywood, it sounds like our second act. >> he is not doing well. i'm not sure. when were we were like, man, i wish that mcconaughey dude straightens out. he is so successful. last night, he thanked himself. >> yes. >> i didn't know you could do that. >> he said he was his on hero. are you here? i would love to be my own hero ten years in the future. >> technically i couldn't be here without me. but i wouldn't thank myself in my oscars speech. not that i will have one. >> it's never too late. >> i don't think i will thank myself. >> that to me, that's kind of the height of white privilege as far as i see it. a good looking white guy saying

let me thank myself real quick, god, my wife and me the holy trinity. >> me in ten years. >> i will be better. i'm going to be better. >> you will be so phenomenal chasing yourself is a life's work. >> okay. >> he's a great actor. but i think he's just so good looking when he talks people go, uh-hu. >> it doesn't make sense. >> what were your favorite moments? the pizza moment the selfie moment, jennifer lawrence's symbol, too, on the red carpet. something other than that. >> ellen was awesome. her job was to get the plane landed as opposed to not saying the word boobs during the oscar. she did a good job. >> and the massage nist. >> i don't know. i was so excited to see adina madel singing "let it go."

my daughter loved that song and john travolta, i don't want to put that in anybody's prompter's technique, he seemed like he had a lot on his mind when he stepped up there. >> a lot on his mind. >> intelligent massages. >> oh, that's where the lawsuit part comes in, this segment. what you were live tweeting last night. you based on that hashtag, i assume you thought that film got overlooked. >> i love "12 years a slave." it centers the racism in the past. which is not where the racism discussion belong. i am fine with them winning. it's great. it would have been nice to see a center of discussion earlier today. and as a person from the bay area and loves the bay area, i feel i would rather have the discussion at the cocktail parties with the white people i don't know than the slavery discussion. >> it's a more difficult nuance.

lastly, what was your favorite of the ones that were nominated? >> nafrt of the ones nominated. that's a hard, you know. "gravity." i'm fan. >> it works in my favor, it keeps me tethered to the ground. >> i love space and powerful women and i love hanging out with sandra bullock. i like survival. i like 3d. i'm a sucker for that. >> kamal bell is on the record, he likes survivor, gravity and 3d. thank you. as always, you can come out on his new stand-up comedy tour, oh, everything. that's from now through april. visit www.kamalbell.com. thank you as always my friend. >> thank you. coming up, the supreme court may have tipped its hand on a key question behind a major death penalty case. could iq score determine if a person is eligible forrel

execution? that is coming up next. as he gk to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. .

humans -- sometimes life trips us up. sometimes we trip ourselves up. and although the mistakes may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. like multi-policy discounts from liberty mutual insurance. save up to 10% just for combining your auto and home insurance. call liberty mutual insurance at... [ thump ] to speak with an insurance expert and ask about all the personalized savings available

for when you get married, move into a new house, or add a car to your policy. personalized coverage and savings. all the things humans need to make our world a little less imperfect. call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

>> this morning, the supreme court heard of arguments in howell vs. florida a. case that takes up the mental capacity of death row inmates. at issue is whether a state can use the defendant's iq score as the sole basis of determining whether or not he or she should be executed. 12 years ago, at kins vs. virginia ruling. the high court banned the execution of quote mentally retarded defendants. the justices concluded executing the mentally disabled constituted cruel and unusual punishment. it was a violation of the 8g9 amendment at the u.s. constitution. krieshl crucially, that decision left it to the states to determine the defendant's mental capacity. florida is one of five states, including alabama, kentucky, virginia and idaho to determine mental fitness using a hard statistical cutoff n. florida's case the bright line for vis i

believe so is an iq score of 70 or less. the case before the court today concerns a 68-year-old man named freddie lee hau. he was convicted in the 1978 murder of a pregnant woman. in 1992 the state found that hall was mentally disabled, but in 2002 when he scored 71 on an iq test the state reversed that assessment. freddie lee hall in scoring a single point above florida's cutoff could be execute ltd. what florida law ignores is standardized iq tests have a margin of error of 5%, meaning he could have scored anywhere from 65 to 75. it can determine whether a man lives of dies. in a nine different iq tests over the years, freddie lee hall scored anywhere from 60 to 80. setting aside mental fitness, based on iq score isn't dangerous.

it is also ridiculous. according to his lawyers, hall is unable to read, write, do basic arithmetic, wash his clothes. an act rat diagnosis must also include evaluating an individual's ability to function in society. as andrew cohen writes in the "the atlantic." the truth is, you don't need to be a lour or liam analyst to understand what the dispute a all about. it's about florida saying that its rigid tests to determine which intellect schully disabled people should be executed. a test that arrogantly refuses a standard of measure. universally embraced by the scientific community. >> that nonetheless deserves the respect of the people and the trust of the courts. this does not t. supreme computer is expected to reach a decision about freddie lee hall and his fate in late june. >> that is all for now. i will see you back here tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. eastern t. "ed show" is coming up next.

good evening, americans, you are watching "the head show" live from new york. let's get to work. [ music playing ] >> they are redrawn by force the pressure is mounting on president obama. >> that there will be costs, mainly military intervention in ukraine. >> i have heard mediation. i think everybody is shocked by the weakness of obama's statement. >> our leadership is perceived as weak. >> america's weakness is becoming pervasive. >> american weakness and withdrawal. >> weak. so mad at him, weak. >> we want a president that will look at diplomacy. >> we want a peaceful resolution. >> not get us into or write a check that our you know what doesn't want. >> the ukrainian people deserve the opportunity to determine their own